At age twenty-one, Auburn Reed has already lost everything important to her. In her fight to rebuild her shattered life, she has her goals in sight and there is no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a chance and puts her heart in control, only to discover that Owen is keeping a major secret from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

To save their relationship, all Owen needs to do is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin.

Review:

Scrolling through my Instagram feed, I stopped at one picture that was just text. It was an anonymous confession. Intrigued, I carried on reading the posted confessions. Some made me laugh, some made me cry, and other broke my heart. The comments were uplifting, helpful despite the people commenting not knowing who had confessed, and others were downright funny. Knowing this was linked to a new Colleen Hoover book, I was both nervous and excited.

I have waited so long to read this book because I knew it was going to rip my heart out and stomp all over it, but when I finally did pluck up the courage to open it, I couldn’t put it down.

Auburn Reed is 20 and is struggling. She lost her first love (only love really) to an dreadful disease, and since then she’s never managed to settle. She plays her cards close to her chest, and we the reader is left wondering what happened in the five years since she was forced to say a final goodbye to Adam.

Owen Gentry hides away in his art studio, inspired by people’s deepest, darkest confessions. Submitted without names via a slot in the door to his studio. Then, once a month he showcases his artwork that these words inspire. – now this is a GREAT concept, one that had me wanting more and more. The inclusion of some of his paintings into the book made Hoover’s words come to life. The only thing I would have liked to have had more of, was more of Owen’s artistic process. We only really ever hear about the end results of what he is painting, not while he is painting.

When Auburn walks into Owen’s studio looking for a job, he recognises her and her name straight away. Why? He keeps that to himself. There’s an instant attraction between the two of them, but because of aspects of each of their lives, they try not act upon them. When they do arrange to meet, Owen stands Auburn up.

What follows on is a story of heartache and more secrets. Told from both character’s POV, the reader finds things out as Owen and Auburn reveal them.

Such a wonderful story, told extremely well. I’m looking forward to seeing the tv series adaptation of it (If I can view it in the UK)